IRAQI LOOTED
AND STOLEN ARTIFACTS

Statue
of Entemena

Recovered

On July 25, 2006, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the recovery of the statue of King Entemena of Lagash, one of the most significant pieces looted from the Iraq Museum in 2003. It was returned to the Government of Iraq at a ceremony in Washington, DC.

DESCRIPTION

In March-April 2003, Iraqi cultural institutions and archaeological sites
suffered major losses of priceless historical artifacts. Looting from archaeological
sites continues on a massive scale. A number of artifacts stolen from the
Iraq National Museum have been returned, but between 7,000-10,000 remain
missing. Among the missing are the diorite statue of Entemena and almost
5,000 cylinder seals. In February 2005, the FBI recovered and repatriated
8 cylinder seals taken from archaeological sites in Iraq.